House Of Cards
by IGotTheKey
Summary: An assigned mission to infiltrate and usurp Midgar's government...can only go so horribly wrong with a redheaded fox so far up the chain of command. Songfic, House Of Cards by Madina Lake. One-shot, implied AxelxReno. Character death. Rated M for safety.


Rage. Leaping flames. Betrayal. The blond, his leader, had ratted him out. And now, he himself was on the run from the only 'comrades' he'd ever had. Public enemy number one on a stranger's world...and even now, he wondered why. Why he was being punished for killing someone that gambled with lives like dice. Why the feel of slick blood on his hands felt so sick, yet so... utterly satisfying.

_It's late at night, the world's asleep  
And I'm trying not to think._He squeezed between two dark buildings, hearing the task force in the black suits pass by. Hell, he could even hear the electricity buzzing through their weapons. He held his breath as he heard the click of hesitating shoes. Clenched his eyes shut and waited...silence. The sound of the footsteps going away. The redhead knew he needed to stay low until this blew over..or at least until the guy's son took the reins and cleared his name. At this moment he wondered what his 'partner' was doing at the moment._  
_  
_I take some pills 'cause my mind bleeds  
I'm thinking, what is wrong with me?_The ibuprofen was hardly a comfort to the blond businessman. The thundering headache didn't vanish- especially not because he could still hear the explosions rocking the earth his apartment was built on. ...his father was dead. Yet, he didn't care. Had he been anticipating it? In a sense, yes. At the same time...no. His father was careless and greedy- although the blue-eyed blond would never admit to betraying the same man he assigned the killing to. No, never. Because it was all part of his plot.

_Because the only thing I know about honesty  
Is every lie I told that you believed..._  
_I'm afraid to be alone.  
I'm afraid that one day you'll find out..._Yet- the annoying twitch of the possibility that his plans could all go askew haunted him in this darkened room. Sitting, gazing out the window, crossing one leg over the other like he owned the world. Who was he kidding? That was his goal. At least, right now it was. Still...his nerves were on knife's edge, watching the city below his penthouse. Yes, he was as much of a gambler as his father, but much more...careful. Calculated.

_And you'll be amazed  
At the secrets I keep.  
You'll be amazed  
At my mouth full of lies._When he was sure the coast was clear, the redhead took to the streets once more. People had locked themselves up in their houses, afraid of what the infamous de facto government's warriors were up to. Fear came with the suit. Power. Most of the time someone was hurt, when those suits went to work. This was nothing but a hunting- it was too stormy for the helicopters to thunder in the sky. The redhead was making his way towards the penthouse where the man he had such faith in was surely observing the city in his grasp...when another blond came into his sight. It was strange to see him without the slick, dark machine he loved so dearly, but nonetheless, he held out a hand.

"Come with me. I'm not gonna ask what kind of trouble you're in, but... I'll get you where you need to go." Intense blue eyes. An outstretched, leather-gloved hand.  
_  
But I'm too afraid to come clean  
Cause my life's the flame in a house of cards_Unfortunately, as soon as the redhead placed a lanky hand in the dark-clothed blond's, the female member of the government's organization closed in on them, weapon in hand. The green-eyed male decided he couldn't get himself in deeper shit than he was already- and so he ran with the blond at his side and the furious woman at his heels. Through the dark streets, darting down alleyways and through abandoned buildings. He didn't realize until the black-haired man was right in front of him, dark eyes intense._  
_  
_Now I can't look you in your eyes  
Because the guilt is killing me.  
I try to disconnect my heart again,  
Just so I can breathe.  
I wanna be myself again  
But I just can't, 'cause..._"Why?" He growled, deep, like an angry dragon of Chinese lore. The redhead stared him back, not even his usual lazy smirk coming to his blood-splattered face. He couldn't reveal the secrets he'd locked within. Not yet. Not while the other him- the one that done the assassination flawlessly and without remorse- still lurked so close beneath the surface.

"Answer me!" He barked, while his rescuer hesitated and the blond woman came up behind them, face twisted in sadistic and angry glee. A hand came up to the redhead's throat and his face contorted for a minute. Internal conflict. Heartbeat pounding, fingers shaking. Lungs constricting. Like the only family he'd ever had turned against him.

_And you'll be amazed  
At the secrets I keep  
You'll be amazed  
At my mouth full of lies_He couldn't remember what happened. Somehow he'd lashed out with crimson-stained fists, sprinting all over again, the spiky blond at his side. A glint of silver- the tanned, slim man knew that his blond companion had his blade at his side, ready to use it to defend him. The thought made him smile. He reached the doors of his new leader's penthouse just as the muscle-bound, sunglassed final member of his former team found them. Descended on the spiky blond with fists swinging.

"Go! Get to the top!" He shouted, parrying the punches with the flat of his blade. "Go!"  
_  
It's such a shame what I've become  
After years of breaking down  
My whole life has come undone  
Cause I'm trying to fake it all  
And I know that you love someone  
But that someone isn't me  
Or is this me?  
No._As the elevator rose and he himself observed the city outside, the destruction and chaos he'd single-handedly wreaked, he marveled. Jade eyes narrowed in slow realization, bringing fingers up to smear a bit of blood over the tattoos under his eyes. What he'd done was a wild act of loyalty from a self he never knew he had. As the lift's doors opened, he saw him. The blond that had ordered him and betrayed him. An overwhelming rush of emotion and the redhead staggered across the room, falling to his knees before the pristine white chair seated beside the floor-to-ceiling windows. Devotion. That's what it had been. Nothing but devotion.

...how long could he keep lying to himself?

_And you'll be amazed  
At the secrets I keep_"You've done excellent, Axel." The blond spoke smoothly, blue eyes shifting down to the battered man at his side like an obedient pet. "Better than your near-twin, perhaps." Always so calm, always so cool. "You are welcome to stay here until I can tame Larxene, Lexaeus, and Xaldin."

Axel nodded slowly, his limbs feeling heavy and numb. He wondered how Roxas was faring against Lexaeus in the streets below. "You sure that was the right thing to do, Luxord?"

"I'm sure of it. Just think how you'll be rewarded...how we'll be rewarded."

"I have complete faith in you." He rose, walking away. Something in his chest pulsed with demented bliss, looking down at his hands. A cheshire-cat's grin spread across his lips. If only the blond knew.

_You'll be amazed  
At my mouth full of lies._He shed his clothes quickly, too exhausted to even find the shower. Another redhead was waiting in the darkness. "He still thinks he's got your loyalty, yo?"

"Definitely. We're really two snakes of a kind, huh...?"

"Yeah, yo. And when we sort everything out and my boss takes back Midgar...you're gonna be right up in the food chain with us."

Axel nodded, sprawling on the bed, refusing to think about the repeated betrayals and lies he'd committed in just the last hour. Because if he did, the newly-acquired fear from the newly-acquired heart would destroy him. And he couldn't let that happen when he'd come so far, right?

_But I'm too afraid to come clean_Reno laid beside the other redhead, holding something dark, metal...with a red button on top. Axel glanced at it for a moment, then smiled. "Biological warfare? You're sick."

"You know you love it, yo. Your leader really doesn't know you well enough to know when you'll reduce him to ashes, huh?"

"No one ever does." Cold words, not even the usual tinge of clever manipulation. "He picked the wrong guy to bet his life with."

"...the blood on your face is kind of hot. Your eyes are glowing."

"Don't they always?" The usual catlike smirk as he curled against his lookalike.

_Cause my life's the flame in a house of cards._Two weeks later and the revolution brought on by those mysterious, dark portals had been stamped out completely. Reno had been right- Axel was now an honorary member of the Turks- the other Nobodies who had come with him to this strange planet had been swiftly eliminated. And Luxord had....well. Burned like the cards he loved so dearly. Axel smiled, standing on the ShinRa helipad with Reno, wind blowing from behind him. This city was back in ShinRa's hands.

...and soon it would be in the hands of Reno and himself. Because the pair had already planned what to do next. And this time- no one would be left but them, a world in their hands. The raging fires would remain untamable this time.

_You'll be amazed.  
You'll be amazed..._


End file.
